Turtles in the Lair 1 – Donatello's problem
by MrRandom287
Summary: 2012 Verse - Donatello is angry at Leonardo after a fight with the Kraang. But is there more to his anger than what might seem?
1. The Beginning

A/N - This is my first attempt of writing a story. I am planning on writing in more of a series format, rather than one long story. Having said that there will be multiple chapters in each story.

Also, I will try and upload at least once a week.

I hope that you all enjoy my story. Reviews are welcome.

Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT nor any of the characters.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1 – The beginning<strong>

"Another night, another routine patrol." Donatello sighs as he enters his lab. "At least I can have some freedom within my Lab, without my brothers trying to outrank me." Metalhead looks at Don and nods his head in agreement.

All four of the turtles were out trying to stop another one of the Kraang's plots to conquer the world. There Don was just about to take out a group of Kraangdroids when Leo came out of nowhere and took them all out. Normally this wouldn't phase the purple-banded turtle, they were a team with the objective of stopping the enemy and Leo was, admittedly, a better fighter than he was. However, lately Don has been feeling that Leo has not even given him a chance to prove that he's improving.

He hears a knock on the door. _Great, it's probably Leo. He's come to have a go at me about having to come and "save" me from those Kraangdroids._

"I'm not interested in talking to you right now, Leo." Don says without looking away from his laptop.

"Are you interested in talking to Mikey?" is the puzzled reply from the door. Don looks up and sees that it's his younger brother.

"Oh, my bad" Don says sheepishly, "What's up?"

"You're not chilling with the rest of us like you usually do after a victory over the Kraang." Mikey says calmly, "Also, why would you not want to talk to Leo? If you had a fight, just look at his friendship with Raph, they fight all the time but you will rarely see them away from each other."

"No, we didn't have a fight. It's more of we probably would have one if I do talk to him."

"Oh," Mikey exhales, "Still, you should come and watch a movie before we go to bed."

"Thanks Mikey, but I'll be ok." Michelangelo doesn't believe his brother, but decides that it is best to leave Don alone.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in the lair's open area, Leonardo and Raphael are discussing the events of the night.<p>

"Well Raph, I think tonight went pretty well." Leo states triumphantly.

"I honestly don't think it could've gotten better." Raph replies eagerly. "Even Mikey's joking around didn't slow us down."

"Well," Leo states coldly, "Donnie could've watched out for himself more. I had to come in and save him from a group of six Droids. I think his mind is too distracted in focusing on finding an anti-mutagen to cure The Pulverizer and Kirby."

"I think you should give the genius a break. After all, it must be frustrating not being able to find a cure." Raph sternly utters, "Besides, you never even gave him a chance to fight those bots."

"When Donnie can prove to me in our practices that he doesn't need us to fight his battles, then I will. But his anti-mutagen cure seems to be distracting him too much from his ninjutsu training."

Raph just stares at Leo. _Leo might be fearless, but I know that Donnie isn't. _He was going to lecture Leo about it but Mikey comes back from Don's lab.

"So," Mikey interjects, "What movie should we watch tonight?"

"My sons," Master Splinter enters the room, "It is getting late. I feel that it'll be best if the movie waits until tomorrow."

"Awww, really Sensei?" Mikey pleads.

"Yes, you have an early training session in the morning."

"Oh, yeah," Leo reminds himself, "Come on guys, we don't want to be tired for that."

"Good night, Sensei" Mikey says as he heads to his room.

"Good night, Michelangelo" is Splinter's response, "Leonardo, where's Donatello?"

"I believe he's in his lab, no doubt trying to find a cure for the mutagen." Leo tells his sensei, "Raph, why don't you go and let him know Sensei's wishes."

"Why me?" Raph puzzles, "You're the leader."

"I know, and that's why I'm _lead_ing you to go to his lab." Leo chuckles as he heads to his room. Raph growls in anger.

"Is there a problem, Raphael?" Splinter questions, not moving since the conversation started. "Should I go instead?"

"No Sensei, I'll go." Raph pronounces calmly

* * *

><p>Raph heads into Donnie's lab without knocking on the door. He sees the genius turtle just staring at the laptop screen. He can sense some distraction in his brother's face.<p>

"Hey Donnie," Don jumps in his seat and quickly closes the laptop. "Sensei wants me to remind you about the early training session tomorrow."

"He wanted _you _to remind me?"

"Well, he did want Leo to but he decided to let me do it." Raph brushes off the slight insult, "Anyways, what we're you looking at on your laptop?"

"Oh, nothing important," Don quickly responds, "well, not to you anyway."

"Come on brainiac, after getting virtually no sleep last night with your anti-mutagen experiments, you really should get some sleep."

"I'm not leaving here Raph." Don says sternly.

"What, do you need me to punch you?" Raph replies with a smirk on his face.

"Fine, I'm going." Don gets up and leaves the room, followed by Raphael.


	2. The Lesson

A/N - Well, the first chapter was more successful than I expected. 3 follows and 1 review :D

I had always loved the way in which Master Splinter teaches the lessons to his sons, and I've tried to replicate that within this chapter.

I hope that you all enjoy my story. Reviews are welcome, I can take constructive criticism too. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT nor any of the characters.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2 – The Lesson<strong>

Leo wakes up the next morning rubbing his eyes. _Yep, 5 o'clock. This early training in 30 minutes won't affect my normal morning routine. _Tying his blue facemask as he exits his room, he decides on how to take up his extra task of waking his brothers up. _Perhaps I should start with Raph. If I try to wake him, everyone else will probably wake up too. _Leo's thoughts echo through his head as he bangs on the door.

"Raph," he exclaims, "morning practice is in 30 minutes. You should get up and ready." He hears the ear-piercing roar from inside the room indicating 'leave me alone.' _Yep, he's awake _Leo half-heartedly thinks to himself, _now on to Mikey. _As he reaches the door of his youngest brother he sighs and then realises that, to his surprise, it opens right in front of him.

"What's Raph's problem this morning?" Michelangelo yawns, "It's like only six."

"Uh, Mikey," Leo interjects, "it's just after five." He can feel Mikey's eyes penetrating into him, as if he thinks that he's lying. "Remember the early training?" Mikey half nods. "Anyways, I'm just going to get Donnie." Mikey's eyes suddenly lit up as he remembers the conversation he and Donnie had last night.

"I'll wake him," and before Leo can question Mikey's sudden enthusiasm, he is already heading towards Don's room.

* * *

><p>"Donnie," Mikey says quietly as he slowly pushes the door for his brothers' room open, "are you awake?"<p>

"Yeah Mikey?" Donatello yawns as he moves to a seated position on his bed. Straight away, Mikey feels himself becoming anxious as he looks right into his brother's bloodshot eyes.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Don can feel the worry in his younger brother's words. _Mikey is the person who I trust the most. Although if I tell him what's happening, he would probably let the others know. If that happens then I know that things around here will be too different. Maybe I should just…_

"Donnie?" Mikey's worry interrupts the intelligent turtle's thoughts.

"I'm fine Mikey," Donnie reassuringly lies, "don't worry about it."

"Ok, well training starts soon so you better get ready" Donnie can feel the innocent smile from his younger brother. He gives a small smile in return to convince Mikey that he'll be ok.

* * *

><p>In the dojo,<p>

"Sensei," Mikey protests, "why do we have to train so early? I haven't even had time to make breakfast."

"Ninja's train all hours of the day," Splinter's words echo through the room, "because the enemy can strike at anytime and you have to make sure that you are prepared at all times."

After a few basic katas, Donatello feels his legs starting to cramp. _Man, that one-hour sleep I got last night is really starting to show. I hope I can last for another hour._ Master Splinter is watching his son with intent. After half an hour,

"Donatello, is everything alright?" Donnie can feel his brothers eyeing him with curiosity.

"Everything is … fine" He responds in between long breaths, "Just … a little … tired."

"I see. Then you wouldn't reject to a little extra training after this session?" Donatello is puzzled by his Sensei's request, but reluctantly, he accepts.

* * *

><p>After the scheduled training session, Mikey heads to the kitchen to get breakfast ready and Leo heads to the bathroom to take his morning shower. Raph decided to stay back and watch his brother's "extra" training session. Usually he doesn't care about what his brothers get up to in the lair, but after yesterday, he feels that Donnie is hiding something from everyone and he wants to find out what is troubling his smart brother. <em>What ever he was looking at on his laptop, he clearly doesn't want us to know about. I've never seen him so cagey before.<em>

"So," Donnie stands in front of Splinter, "what is this session about?"

"Today you will be doing some simple katas," Splinter replies, "all by yourself."

"Ok" Donnie feels strange about this session, but he goes with it. As he is halfway through his first kata, Splinter sneaks up behind him and takes him down. "Hey!" Donnie complains, "I thought you said that I would be doing this by myself."

"You are right, my son. Shall we start again?"

Donnie gets back up and resumes the position. All of a sudden, he feels his legs fall out beneath him, again.

"Sensei, how am I supposed to practice my katas if you keep knocking me down?"

"I'm sorry," Splinter snickers a little and he notices the red-banded turtle in the background watching the session, "I'll leave you alone to continue the training now."

As Donnie resumes his training yet again, Splinter looks at Raph who nods in agreement, as if he already knew the plan. Besides, Raph will never give up an opportunity to takedown one of his brothers. Donnie is once again focusing hard in doing his katas, and he feels his legs being taken out for a third time.

"SENSEI! I though you said that you…" he stops as he notices that Master Splinter well away from him. He looks around and sees Raph laughing his head off.

"Raphael, you may leave." Splinter says, indicating that he wants to be alone with Donnie.

"Awww." Raph sulks as he leaves the dojo.

"Two things are apparent from this session," Splinter concludes, "number one: being lied to can be frustrating. In addition, the second thing is that your mind is troubled, with your training you should've noticed all three attacks coming. So what is troubling you, Donatello?"

"My main trouble is that I don't think I'm ready to accept what's wrong, do you understand Sensei?"

"I do. But you have to understand, my son, you will eventually have to face this problem or else it won't go away. Take some time to relax, perhaps you'll feel more comfortable with this if you are not so stressed with this anti-mutagen for our friends."

"I know, Sensei. I'll try and take it a little easier today."

"Good. Now you may go and have some breakfast."


	3. The Afternoon

A/N - Sorry it has been a while since I've uploaded. I've had a few things happening and it sort of has stopped me from writing for a bit.

I know that this chapter isn't as long as the other ones, but I posted this just to prove that I'm still alive :P

As always, please enjoy my story. :D

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3 – The Afternoon<strong>

After breakfast, Donatello sits down and watches TV. None of his brothers even attempt to bother him until Raphael finishes his gym session.

"Dude," Donnie remains silent and still, "you've been sitting there all day. That's Mikey's job."

"Master Splinter told me to take it easy today," Don calmly replies, "Besides, when does whatever I do bother you?"

"Normally every time, it's just that all of your whats-it and thingamajigs that you're normally working on have never made sense to me, so I don't bother asking. So what's going on anyway? Splinter doesn't normally tell people to take things easy unless they're sick, and you look fine to me."

"I'm fine," Donnie says coldly, "I just need a little break, that's all."

"What about the laptop, I've never known you to be so defensive about what's on it." Donnie suddenly feels enraged by the reminder of his laptop. He stands up, eyeing his brother with a death stare.

"I'm fine." He repeats as he heads to his lab.

"Wow," Mikey says as he enters the room, "What's up with him?" Raphael just stands there trying to process what just happened before his eyes. _What ever is on his laptop, it must be the cause of this. I need to find a way to have a look at it._

* * *

><p>In his lab, Donatello is going through his notes and decides to search something quickly. He opens his laptop only to discover that in his haste yesterday he never closed the window on it. Donatello feels a tear creeping from his eye, remembering what is causing the problem in the first place.<p>

"What should I do, Metalhead?" he questions, "I mean, why do I feel as though I shouldn't tell them. I trust them with my life and yet I sense that things will just be too different." Metalhead makes some android noises. "I know that Splinter will understand. However, he will insist that I let the others know." He sighs, feeling a massive amount of air escape his body. "I've got to do something though."

"Hey D," Mikey quietly says as he enters the lab, "Are you coming for the patrol?" Donnie sighs again, this time not as big so his youngest brother doesn't notice. _Great, another person who's so intent on finding out what's wrong._

"No Mikey," Donatello replies without looking up from his notes, "I think it would be best if I stay down here tonight." He feels Mikey's hand rest on his shoulder.

"Alright bro, just take it easy then." Mikey says as he gives his brother a hug, "I'll come and talk to you when we return." Mikey leaves as Don remains, still staring at his notes.


	4. The Evening

A/N - Well, chapter 4 is now here! In terms of length, think of it as the second part of Chapter 3. :P

I don't really have any comments about this one so, as always, please enjoy my story :D

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4 - The Evening<strong>

As the three brothers get back to the lair, Leo and Raph are, once again, discussing the events of the night. Mikey jumps down to the couch and turns on the TV, but he finds himself focusing more on the conversation that his brothers are having.

"Look," the eldest one says, "Can't you just be happy that tonight was a success? Why do you have to make everything bleak?"

"I am happy that tonight went well," the aggressive one responds, "What I'm angry about is how easy you made it seem as if we don't need Donnie. He's one of us!"

"Like I said before, he is too distracted with this anti-mutagen thing that he's losing his skill. Splinter sees it too, that's why he gave him extra training after this morning's practice." Michelangelo cringes after hearing those harsh comments about his brother. _How can Leo say that? I know he's a perfectionist and any mistake the rest of us make falls on him, but surely even he can see that Donnie is struggling with something._ _Wait! I was supposed to talk to him._ He jumps up from his seat and heads straight for Don's lab.

"You weren't there Leo," Raph continues, neither him nor Leo noticing the sudden movement of their youngest brother, "There is something bothering him. Splinter's 'extra training' was to try and help Donnie open up about it, but I don't think it worked." Leo can feel anger grow inside of him, it always happens when he fights with Raph. However, it feels different this time, almost more personal.

"Since when are you the level headed one?"

"Since when are you the stuck-up, soulless and selfish one?" Raph stands his ground, staring straight into Leo's eyes, which stare straight back into his.

"How am I being selfish? I'm thinking about the team here."

"You mean the team which won't consist of Donatello?" Leo is becoming absolutely furious that Raph isn't seeing this from his side.

"What is this commotion about?" Splinter states sternly.

"Leo has an interesting suggestion that he'd like to take up" Raph replies with a smirk on his face.

"Is that so? I'd like to hear this suggestion, Leo." Leo stares at the ground. "Well?" his Master's enquiry makes Leo extremely nervous.

"I'm still working on the details," he responds quickly, "I'll let you know if I decide to do anything about it though." Before he even finished his sentence, he is heading straight to his room. Splinter looks at Raph with a puzzling expression on his face. All Raph can do is reply with a shrug.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Mikey didn't find Donnie in his lab. <em>He must've headed to bed.<em> As he heads into Donnie's bedroom, he hears the end of the argument Raph and Leo had.

_"How am I being selfish? I'm thinking about the team here." _

_"You mean the team which won't consist of Donatello?"_

His heart sinks even more. _I don't understand what Leo is currently thinking. I mean I never understand what Don thinks, then again, I don't even think Don understand what he thinks. But everyone knows what Leo thinks and where his arguments come from. But not this time. I think Raph is thinking the same as me. Hmmm, maybe I'm over thinking this._

Once he recovers from his thoughts, Mikey heads into Donnie's room.

"Don, you awake?" He asks innocently.

"Mikey, can you do me a favour?" Don replies quietly.

"Anything."

"Leave me alone. Now."

"Ok, we can talk tomorrow then" Mikey quietly closes the door, feeling more upset than when Leatherhead was transported back to dimension X.

_Wow, he's getting worse, and fast._


	5. The Next Day

A/N - Wow it's been a while since I've posted and I do apologize for it. :/

I wonder if you've figured out who my least favourite turtle is by now :P

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5 – The Next Day<strong>

As the morning arrives, Mikey, Leo and Raph are sitting around the table eating breakfast. They all feel an eerie silence going around.

"Man, after yesterday's training session I'm glad that splinter has decided to give us a day off." Mikey jokingly says.

"Don't relax too much Mikey," Leo responds, "I will be giving us a session during our patrol tonight." Mikey sighs. "By the way, has anyone seen Donnie? He's usually up earlier than Raph."

"Very funny, Leo," Raph moans, "I suppose your little 'suggestion' is still being considered?"

"Now is not the time to be discussing this Raph," Leo bites back.

"And when would you like to discuss it then?"

"Later."

Mikey realises that his attempt of relieving the tension between his two oldest brothers is failing as he can clearly see the death stares that the both of them are giving to each other. _Half of me is saying that I should do something. The other half is telling me that I should probably leave before I get in the middle of this. _Mikey grabs the bowls and heads to the kitchen to wash up as his brothers head out to do their own things.

* * *

><p>Later in the afternoon, Master Splinter is quietly meditating in his room when he feels the presence of one of his sons.<p>

"Please enter Michelangelo," he says before calmly exiting his mediative state, "What troubles you?"

"It's about Donnie, he just seems so different lately. I can't quite work out what it is, but I know something is bugging him. He hasn't even left his room today."

"My son, Donatello is going through some personal issues right now which even I don't know what they are. The best thing we can do is to show him that we are there for him, but not try to force him to tell us his problem."

"Uh, ok Sensei. How exactly do I do that?"

"First of all, make your presence known to him. He doesn't need to be alone with whatever it is which is troubling him. Also, from what I've been able to observe, make sure that he feels as though he is part of the team. Right now, I don't think your other brothers are making that clear to him."

"Ok, thanks Sensei." And with that, Mikey heads out of Splinter's Room and straight to Donatello's room. As he exits the dojo, he runs straight into Leo.

"Ah, there you are," Leo says, "I've been looking all over for you. Just letting you know that we'll be heading for our patrol soon."

"Ok Leo, I'll go let Donnie know."

"Why? He hasn't even left his room all day. What on earth makes you think that he'll come out for the patrol?" Leo harshly questions.

"I don't know, but it's always nice to be asked!" Mikey bites back before storming off towards Donatello's room again. As he gets to the door, he can feel his heart sinking. _Leo is probably right. With the way Donnie's been lately, I'd be surprised if he'd even talk to me, honestly._ He knocks on the door and waits a few seconds. _Hmmm, he might be asleep. _He slowly opens his older brother's door and to his surprise, Donatello is sitting at his desk with a book open. On closer inspection, it looks like a notebook with about a third of the book open. He notices some scribbling down half of the open page

"Hey bro," Mikey extends his friendly greeting, "How are you doing?"

"Well, I'm alive." Mikey chuckles a little at his brother's half-sarcastic response.

"Well, I suppose that's always good." Donnie turns around to face his younger brother,

"What do you want?"

"I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go to our patrol tonight." Donatello spins around and looks at his book. Mikey feels his heart sink again. _How did he take offence to that? It's such an innocent question…  
><em>

"Sure," Donatello cuts Mikey's train of though, "Just give me a couple of minutes to prepare."

"Ok bro, we'll wait for you."


	6. The Fight

_A/N: So yer, the (really, really, really, really) long awaited 6th chapter. _

_This chapter was a pretty tough one to write, mainly because I was unsure of how to get the story to go where I wanted it to. The good news is that I think I now have a much better understanding of how it's going to pan out :D_

_Please enjoy, and hopefully it won't be such a long wait for the 7th chapter._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6 – The Fight<strong>

"So Donnie," Michelangelo asks his intellectual brother as he jumps across a gap in the rooftops, "Why did you agree to come with us tonight?"

"Because I normally come to the patrols." Donatello replies almost out of breath, "Besides, why does it matter?"

"Well, it's just that you stayed-"

"Guys, hush." Leonardo's whispers to his brothers. Leo signals for his brothers to have a quiet look off the roof.

"Dude, There's only three Kraangdroids there. This should be a piece of cake."

"Just because we can only see three doesn't mean that there aren't any more, Mikey." Leo says as he surveys the scene. "It looks like the Kraang are trying to steal something, no sure what it is though."

"Hmmm," Don thinks aloud, "Something's not right here. What could the Kraang want to steal from a Sport's Shop?"

"I don't know," Mikey replies hopefully, "Perhaps the Kraang dudes don't have enough money to buy their own basketball?"

Raphael looks at his youngest brother sardonically, "Yes Mikey, I'm sure that their biggest problem at the moment is that they can't play basketball."

"Here they come outside guys, "Leo hushes again and soon realises what the Kraangdroids have in their hands, "Wait, golf balls? Why would they want those?"

"Well, golf balls are known to have polybutadiene and Benzoyl peroxide in them." Donatello realises what they Kraang might be up to.

"Cut the science gibberish," Raphael demands, "Is that stuff dangerous?"

"In the hands of the Kraang, most likely."

"That's good enough for me!" Raph yells as he jumps down to attack the Kraang.

"Oh yeah," Mikey follows, "booyakasha!"

Leo jumps down as Donatello shakes his head, then also makes his way down.

* * *

><p>Raph starts by taking his sais out and stabbing two of the Kraangdroids in the necks. More Kraangdroids come out from a truck hiding in the alleyway. Mikey and Leo take on the new droids as Don joins his red-banded brother.<p>

"You should really go help the others, I've got these ... under control. "Raph says whilst fending off a few more Droids who have started to attack him.

"Are you sure?" Donatello worryingly asks.

"Yes, just go stop those Kraangs with the balls."

Donatello looks around and spots the four Droids who are escaping with the golf balls and begins to sprint towards them. Leo spots what his brother is up to,

"Mikey, go help Donnie."

"You got it" Mikey replies without missing a beat and heads towards his closest brother, who has turned into the alleyway.

Donnie runs up behind one of the Droids and swings his bo to the Droid's head to no effect.

_Oh, not good._ He thinks to himself.

"Look out!" he hears Mikey's yell and jumps out-of-the-way so Mikey's nunchaku hits it's target by wrapping itself around the leg of one of the Droids. Causing him to fall and drop his golf balls, which Donatello slips on whilst trying to catch the rest of the Droids. The three droids get into their van and are able to drive off before Mikey can catch the van. When Mikey realises that he can't catch it, his attention turns towards his fallen brother.

"You ok, D?" He asks as he helps his brother up.

"Physically? Yes."

"And what about mentally?"

"Well, they did get away-"

"WHAT?!" Leo shouts as he rejoins his two brothers after the other Kraangdriods left, "Really Donnie? You couldn't stop them?"

"Well-" Mikey's attempt to defend his brother is shut down by the leader.

"Stay out of this Michelangelo," Leo says sourly, "Donatello, I knew that I shouldn't have let you come tonight. You've been having extra training from Splinter and yet you still can't hold your own? I don't want you as part of our patrols until you can prove to me that you can."

"Alright then, "Donatello states with a pained expression, "Have it your way." And he walks towards the manhole cover and goes down it.

"Donnie! Wait!" Mikey screams as he goes off to follow him.

"Argh" Raph's grunting is heard by Leo. As he turns around he notices that his brother is walking very slowly with a limp.

"And what's up with you?" Leo says, still with some hostility in his voice.

"I'll be fine." Raph responds coldly, "where are the others?"

"Mikey's gone with Donatello who's having a whine about his failure."

"What do you mean 'his failure?' aren't we all part of a team."

"Well, unless he can prove that he's able to hold his own, Donatello is not part of our team."

"Wow," Raph just stands there, Glowering, "fearless leader indeed."

"I'll see you when back in the lair, Raph" Leo says as he disappears down the manhole cover. Raphael limps his way across to it to make his way home too.


End file.
